5-Min Pro · Error Correction: Deciding When and How
The idea — Not all errors need correcting immediately. Interrupting a fluency task for accuracy correction kills communication. Correcting everything demoralises. The question is always: what…
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5-Min Pro · Managing a Mixed-Ability Class
The idea — In a mixed-ability class, the same task reaches different learners differently. Rather than designing three separate tasks, design one task with variable challenge…
Read5-Min Pro · Peer Observation: Giving Feedback That Lands
The idea — Peer observation feedback fails when it is vague (‘great energy’), when it is a list of everything, or when it arrives without an…
ReadELT365 · Day 180 — L1 Interference in Listening
Idea — L1 phonological systems can interfere with listening in English. Learners may systematically mishear phoneme contrasts that don’t exist in their first language, no matter…
ReadELT365 · Day 179 — Connected Speech and Listening
Idea — Native speakers link, reduce, and swallow sounds in ways that standard pronunciation syllabi don’t cover. Learners trained only on careful speech are unprepared for…
ReadELT365 · Day 177 — Checking Comprehension Without ‘Did You Understand?’
Idea — Asking ‘Did you understand?’ after a listening is useless: learners who didn’t understand don’t know they didn’t understand, and those who did understand have…
ReadELT365 · Day 176 — Predicting Before Listening
Idea — Prediction activates schema, reduces anxiety, and gives learners a purpose for listening. When learners predict and then check their predictions, comprehension improves even when…
ReadELT365 · Day 175 — Inferencing from Context
Idea — Inference means working out what is implied but not stated. In listening, this includes reading between the lines — detecting sarcasm, implication, or unstated…
ReadELT365 · Day 173 — Listening for Attitude and Opinion
Idea — Beyond facts and details, proficient listeners track how a speaker feels about what they are saying. Attitude markers (tone, hedging, stress, discourse markers) carry…
ReadELT365 · Day 172 — Extensive Reading: What It Is and How to Start
Idea — Extensive reading means reading large quantities at a comfortable level for pleasure and fluency, not for study. Nation’s research suggests it is one of…
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